The Oklahoma Statewide Charter School Board conducts a meeting Monday at the Oklahoma History Center in Oklahoma City, during which it approved the creation of a new charter school in Blanchard. (Photo by Nuria Martinez-Keel/Oklahoma Voice)
OKLAHOMA CITY — A network of rural Oklahoma charter schools will expand into Blanchard next year.
The Academies of Oklahoma, a charter school district with sites in Seminole and Okmulgee, intends to enroll between 180 and 220 elementary and middle school students in Blanchard in fall 2025 with plans to add high school classes in 2026.
The Oklahoma Statewide Charter School Board unanimously approved The Academy of Blanchard during a meeting Monday. The statewide board has become the charter authorizer for the Seminole and Okmulgee schools, as well, taking over charter oversight from the Oklahoma State Board of Education .
The charter district encompassing the Seminole, Okmulgee and Blanchard schools is now known as The Academies of Oklahoma.
The district’s superintendent, Wren Hawthorne, said the Blanchard school would bring a program with proven success to the city of 9,400 people southwest of Oklahoma City.